Apparatus for handling and drying hops.



No. 7l5,7|8. l Patented nec. 9, |902.

n. wlETmG. APPARATUS FOB HANDLING AND DBYING HOPS.

Applicafion ledJuly 5. 1902.)

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APPARATUS'FDB HANDLING ANU DBYll-G HUPS.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DIEDRICH WIETING, OF MERIDIAN, OREGON.A

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND DRYING HOPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,718, dated December 9, 1902.

I Application filed July 5, 1902. Serial No. 114,461. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, DIEDRICH WIETING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Meridian, in the county of Marion and State of Oregon, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Handling and Drying Hops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in driers, and contemplatesl the provision of an apparatus which While simple and inexpensive in construction is calculated to materially facilitate the handling and expedite the thorough drying of h'ops and the like.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description and claims, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section taken through a building forming part of myimproved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section taken in the plane indicated by the broken line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken in the plane indicated by the broken line t4 of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the several views of the drawings, referring to Which- A is a building which is divided by a transverse partition a into a store-room o and a kiln c and is provided above the latter with an outlet d for vapor, dac.; B B, upper and lower tracks pivotally connected at c to the side walls of the store-room b,- C C, upper and lower tracks pivotally connected at f to the side walls of the kiln o and adaptedl when in a horizontal position to aline with the tracks B; D D, bars loosely connected to and depending from the inner ends of the tracks B at opposite sides of the store-room b and having racks g; E E, bars loosely connected to and depending from the inner ends of the tracks C at opposite sides of the storeroom b and provided within the store-room b with racks t; F, a shaft journaled in suitable bearings j on the partition a. and provided at its ends with pinions k, arranged between and intermeshed with the racks g v2 of the bars D E, and also provided at its middle with a hand-wheel l, and Gr a platform connected to the partition ct and arranged at the store-room side thereof. f.

When the shaft F is rotated in one direction, it will be observed that the inner ends of the tracks B will be lowered and the inner ends of the tracks C raised, this t0 cause the upper tracks B to aline with the lower tracks C, while when said shaft F is rotated in the other directionthe inner ends of the tracks B will be raised and the inner ends of the tracks C lowered, thisin order to cause the upper tracks C to aline with the lower tracks B.

Two cars H I are employed, and when the saine are loaded with hops and placed on the tracks C over the kiln c, as shown' in Fig. l, the' hops carried by the lower car I will be dried before those carried by the Aupper car When the hops carried by said lower car I are dried, as stated, the inner ends of the tracks B are lowered and the inner ends of the tracks C raised to cause the lower tracks C to aline with the` upper tracks B, and the car I is hauled from the lower tracks C in the kiln to the upper tracks B in the store-room. The inner ends of the tracks B are then raised and the inner ends of the tracks C lowered to cause the upper tracks C to aline with the lower tracks B, and the car His permitted to gravitate or run down from the said upper tracks C to the lower tracks B. With this done the tracks'B C are returned to the positions shown in Fig. l, and the car H, containing the partially-dried hops,'is run from the lower tracks B to the lower tracks C. The car I is now discharged of its dried hops, and after being reloaded with fresh hops is run from the upper tracks B to the upper tracks C.

By reason ofthe cars being manipulated as described in the foregoing, it Will be observed that the car containing the fresh hops always occupies the uppermost position in the kiln and the car containing the partiallydried hops the lowerrnost position. rangement is highly advantageous, since it elfectually prevents the vapor from the fresh hops from permeatin g the partially-dried hops and retarding and preventing the thorough drying of the latter.

In order that either car H or I may be conveniently hauled from the lower tracks C to the upper tracks B when said tracks are Such ar- ICO placed in alinement in the manner before described, I provide the cable J, which is passed around a pulley m and has a hook j; at one end designed to be placed in engagement with eyes q on the cars, and a drum or windlass K, to which the said cable .I is connected and upon which it is designed to be wound. The said drum or windlass is mounted in suitable bearings on the partition d within convenient reach of a person standing on the floor of the store-room b, as shown in Figs. l and 2.

The platform G is designed in practice to support an attendant while he is engaged in shifting the cars from the upper and lower tracks B, in the positions shown in Fig. l, to the upper and lower tracks C.

The cars II I, in the preferred embodiment of the invention,respectively comprise arectangular main frame r, provided with wheels s, adapted to travel on the tracks B C, openwork frames t', arranged side by side and pivotally mounted in the frame r and covered with canvas r', Fig. et, and a door u, connected in a hinged manner to and depending.,r from the outer end of the frame r. The meeting edges of the pivoted frames t are rabbeted and lapped, and the outer edges of the outer of said frames are also rabbeted and arranged to lap over projections n on the side bars of the main frame r, as best shown in Fig. 3. Consequently it will be observed that while the said frames t may be readily turned when it is desired to dump them theyare not liable to casually turn.

The door u of the car H is adapted, when said car is in the position shown in Fig. l, to bear against the forward end of the main frame of carl, while the door u of said car I is adapted, when the same is in the position shown in Fig. I, to bear against the partition a. It follows from this that the said doors it will prevent the' escape of heat from the kiln through the space between the partition ai and the forward en d of car I and the space between the forward ends of the two cars H I.

L is a door hinged tothe roof of the building and adapted when closed to bear against the outer end of the upper ear, so as to prevent the passage of heat and vapor from the upper portion of the kiln to the store-room. M is a cable connected to said door L and passed over a pulley w and having for its purpose to enable a person standing on the Hoor of the store-room to readily raise the door Ii, and N N are bars on the inner sides of the tracks C. These bars N have slots y and are connected to the tracks C bylag-scrcws e, which extend through said slots. When the bars N are raised against the car-frames r and secured in such position, as shown in Figs. l and 3, they are calculated to preclude the passage of heat between the said frames and the tracks, and hence compel all of the heat to pass up through the cars and the hops thereon. When the lag-screws are loosened and the bars lowered away from the carframes, the said bars obviously will not interfere with the shifting of the cars in the manner before described.

I have entered'into a detailed description of the construction and relative arrangement of the parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear, and exact understanding of the same. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to such specific construction and arrangement of parts, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an apparatus for drying hops andthe like, the combination of pivotally-mounted tracks arranged end to end, rack-bars connected to the inner portions of said tracks, and a pinion arranged between and intermeshed with the rack-bars.

2. In an apparatus for drying hops and the like, the combination of a building divided bya partition into a store-room and a kiln, u pper and lower tracks B pivotally connected to opposite walls of the store-room, upper and lower tracks C pivotally connected to opposite walls of the kiln; said tracks B and C having their inner ends disposed above the partition, bars connected to and depending from the inner portions of the tracks B atopposite sides of the building, and having racks, bars connected to and depending from the inner portions of the tracks C at opposite sides of the building, and a shaft journaled in bearings on the partitions and having pinions at its opposite ends arranged between and intermeshed with the racks of the bars at opposite sides of the building, and also having a hand-wheel- 3. In an apparatus for drying hops and the like, the combination of a building divided by a partition into astore-room and a kiln, upper and lower tracks B pivotally connected to opposite walls of the store-room, upper and lower tracks C pivotally connected to opposite walls of the kiln; said tracks B and C having their inner ends disposed above the partition, means connected to the tracks for simultaneously raising the inner portions of the tracks B and lowering the inner portions of the tracks C, and vice versa, cars arranged IOO to travel from the tracks B to the tracks C and vice versa, and respectively comprising a rectangular main frame, bars adjustably connected to the tracks C and adapted to be adjustably fixed against the under sides of the side bars of the car-frame, hinged doors connected to and depending from the forward ends of the main frames of the cars, and a door hinged to and depending from the roof of the building and adapted to close against the forward end of the frame of the upper car.

4. The combination in a hop-drying appa- 1o pinions arranged between and intermeshed with the rack-bars and also having a handwheel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DIEDRICH WIETING.

Witnesses:

LINDLEY M. KIRK, CHAUNOEY M-.LOCKWoon 

